The Boston Globe is reporting that the Catholic Church in the United States experienced a sharp increase in abuse claims last year. It is the largest rise since the country’s Catholic bishops began keeping tallies of claims in 2004.

The annual report from the US Conference of Catholic Bishops, which covers July 2015 to June 2016, said 911 victims came forward with allegations the church deemed credible, the vast majority of which were from adults who said they were abused when they were children. The bishops’ report noted that the previous year there were only 384 claims of abuse.

The report attributed the rise in claims to Minnesota, the state temporarily lifted its statute of limitations in 2013 to allow alleged victims older than 24 to sue for past abuse, and the deadline to file such claims was in late May 2016.

However, other factors such as the documentary film Spotlight which served to bring the issue back into the forefront of public attention.

Victims who came forward during the most recent reporting year included 26 minors, the report said.

The report’s definition of “minors” included people under age 18 or anyone who “habitually lacks the use of reason.”

As of June 30, 2016, two of the 26 cases had been substantiated, while 11 had been deemed unsubstantiated by church officials. The rest remained under investigation, the report said.

The offenders in the substantiated cases were removed from ministry, as were 26 other priests or deacons accused of past abuse, officials said.

The report did not break down the location of the allegations but said its data was based on information from all 196 diocese and eparchies of the bishops conference and from 180 of the 232 religious institutes of the Conference of Major Superiors of Men.

The latest figures mean that between 1950 and June 2016, more than 18,500 people nationwide made clergy abuse allegations deemed credible by US Catholic officials, and more than 6,700 clerics have been accused of abuse, church records show.

Activists have questioned whether the church’s count of clergy sex abuse victims is lower than the actual total. The Media Report, a conservative online site, hit back against the Globe’s article accusing the newspaper of attempting to keep an old story alive by rehashing old news and false claims. Of course, they also include the obligatory criticism of lawyers. The truth of the matter is this: lawyers who are involved in this fight for justice are doing it to help the survivors of sexual abuse and those who come forward show a great deal of courage and their claims have been shown to be true.

Guam’s senators overwhelmingly passed Senate bill 326 with 13 yes votes and two excused absences. The bill will now go to the Governor’s office for signature.

The senators took up the bill in response to recent sexual abuse allegations against Guam Catholic priests and the local archbishop Anthony Apuron. Several men have come forward alleging Apuron molested them when they were altar boys at Mt. Carmel Church in Agat where he had served as a priest. These same men testified in support of the bill when it had its public hearing.

Pope Francis placed the archbishop on leave soon after the sexual abuse allegations were made against him.

Guam Catholics continue to come forward with allegations of sexual abuse against Catholic priests serving in Guam. As in other dioceses, the priests and archbishop who have been accused maintain their innocence.

On September 4th, approximately 80 sexual abuse advocates and survivors gathered in front of Dulce Nombre de Maria Cathedral-Basilica in Hagåtña to protest the Catholic Church’s handling of the sex abuse crisis in Guam. Members of the Concerned Catholics of Guam (CCOG), Laity Forward Movement (LFM) and Silent No More joined the gathering.

Lou Klitzke, a member of LFM, told the Post that protester turnout has been steadily increasing over the past few weeks.

“Everybody keeps coming out,” she said. “We have a very dedicated group of people.”

In 2013 Minnesota legislature came together in a historic bipartisan show of support to pass The Child Victims Act. Under that new state law, the civil statute of limitations that previously gave child sex abuse victims until age 24 to sue was removed. Victims over age 24 were given a three-year window to sue for past abuse. Anyone under 24 before the law went into effect — has an unlimited time to file.

According to the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, during this historic three-year window more than 800 people brought abuse claims against churches, the Boy Scouts, schools and a children’s theater company. Previously unknown offenders have been exposed. Two Roman Catholic dioceses filed for bankruptcy. Lists of credibly accused priests and thousands of documents have been released. And the heightened scrutiny played a part in the downfall of two bishops. Read More →

In Pennsylvania, the State House has passed a bill that would reform the statute of limitations regarding child sexual abuse cases. The bill would abolish the criminal statute of limitations for future criminal prosecutions for serious child sexual abuse crimes and other crimes relating to sexual assault. The bill has moved to the senate for consideration and it is widely believed the governor will sign it if it reaches his desk.

This bill is being widely applauded by victims and victim’s advocates across the country who have lobbied to abolish statute of limitations in child sexual abuse cases nationwide. Concurrently, in New York, state Senate Democrats have introduced a bill that would also eliminate the time limits for child sex abuse victims to bring criminal or civil cases.

As expected the Catholic Church has been outspoken in its opposition to statute of limitations reform in sex abuse cases. Current statutes of limitations have allowed the church to avoid prosecution in many, if not most, of the sex abuse cases brought against them. In Pennsylvania, Philadelphia Archbishop Charles J. Chaput has strongly opposed abolishing the civil statute of limitations or opening a temporary window to allow accusers to file claims. This same position has been widely adopted by Catholic Dioceses across the nation.

In 2012 a panel of insurance experts presented a white paper to the Vatican estimating that there are as many as 100,000 children in the US who have been victims of clerical sex abuse. Many of these cases go back decades and it was usually standard practice for the church to cover up the crimes and shelter known pedophiles. They counted on statutes of limitations to make it nearly impossible for adults who were abused as children to put their claims before a court

The church is no doubt aware of the unique circumstances that exist in cases involving clergy sexually abusing children. In almost every case children are reluctant or unable to talk about pedophile priests or face their accusers. There are significant and unique barriers that prevent children from reporting what they intuitively know is inappropriate behavior. Fear of the accusing their abuser, the stigma of being abused, and a reluctance to confront the church often keep sexual abuse from being reported. Many victims of pedophile priests are unable to talk about abuse or face their accusers until they are well into adulthood, putting the crime beyond the reach of the law.

There have already been temporary statutes of limitations reprieves in four states that allowed hundreds of victims of sexual abuse at the hands of Catholic Priests to finally have their cases heard. Most notably, in 2013 Minnesota created a three-year window for past victims of abuse to file child sex abuse lawsuits against the church and other institutions, even after the statute of limitations has closed.
This led the Roman Catholic archdiocese of St Paul and Minneapolis to file for bankruptcy last year in the face of dozens of potential sex abuse lawsuits. The statute of limitations reprieve ends next month and advocates are lobbying for an extension or permanent removal in light of all the abuse cases that are still being uncovered.

In my own history of defending the victims of sex abuse committed by clergy I have seen the Catholic Church demonstrate time and time again that they are more concerned with preserving the “Brand,” than protecting the victims of abuse. It took decades for the Catholic Church to admit that sex abuse by clergy was even a problem. For too long the church employed the “bad apple” defense in defending its role in the sexual abuse plague. By doing so the institution could continue to operate without taking responsibility for their role by saying that guilt lay only with individual priests.

No longer. There are survivors who are finally ready to come forward, yet can’t get into the courthouse because of restrictive statute of limitation laws. Only by removing these hurdles, as they are about to do in Pennsylvania and New York, will we allow these victims to get the justice so long overdue them.

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Priest Abuse Attorney

Joseph H. Saunders

Board Certified Civil Trial Lawyer by the National Board of Trial Advocacy and by the Florida Bar Board of Legal Specialization. 30 years of national experience.
Member of the National Crime Victim Bar Association. Sustaining and Stalwart Member of the American Association for Justice.